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Nest Cam IQ

Wireless home security cameras are nothing new these days, but the sleekly designed Nest Cam IQ offers some features that stand it apart from some of the other IP-based solutions.

People often buy wireless cameras solutions to address one home or business security concern, without realising that they may be introducing another. Some cheaper sets of IP cameras may treat security as an afterthought, with data transmitted over the internet without any form of encryption and access to camera feeds provided by generic, possibly easily hackable web servers.

The data stream from the Nest Cam IQ is protected by an extremely strong 2048-bit private RSA encryption for the purposes of exchanging keys, which are in turn used establish a secure Transport Layer Security (TLS) connection using the AES-128 (Advanced Encryption Standard). To put this in context it is estimated it would take around 1 billion years for a supercomputer to ‘brute force’ AES-128; that is, to use software to systematically test every possible combination. Most stories that claim the AES standard has been broken actually tend to involve bypassing the encryption mechanism one way or another.

Nest appear to have given internet of things (IoT) security the attention it deserves by using Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Google Cloud Platform for cloud servers and online storage. You can read in-depth about how these industry big hitters approach their security here and here.

So well thought out data security is one thing we like about the Nest Cam IQ, but as the name suggests, the camera is also smarter than previous models. Algorithms used by the device now allow it to discern between a person and say, a pot plant, and the device will zoom in on a face it has picked up and send you an alert.

The baseline Nest Cam IQ has a 3-hour snapshot feature, meaning if you miss an alert while you’re busy in a meeting you can go back and review footage over that period. However, if you want to go a step further the Nest Aware subscription package offers cloud storage of video data and also allows the camera to distinguish between familiar faces and strangers. At time of writing this review you can get a 10-day trial subscription to Nest Aware upon setting up your first camera.

One question the privacy-savvy consumer might ask is what these companies do with camera data stored on their infrastructure. Nest assures that their business is selling cameras, not data – and the same goes for the Google Cloud infrastructure they use.

In addition to providing 24/7 live video streaming to the Nest App, the camera also includes an HD Talk feature which allows remote conversations from wherever you might be monitoring – making it ideal for reminding the household cat not to sharpen its claws on your favorite rug.

The camera has up to 12x zoom capability with video recorded in an impressively high resolution due to its 4K sensor. But keep in mind when viewing footage the resolution will obviously be limited by the screen on the device you are using.

To interact with the device while you’re away, the cameras can be added to the Nest app (iOS / Android) which will be familiar to those with other Nest devices like learning thermostats and is easy to use with a straightforward interface.

In addition to its data security and market-leading image quality, we liked the futuristic, clean design of the Nest Cam IQ, which should make it blend in effortlessly around the home or in an office.

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